The Richardson Economic Development Partnership (REDP) has been named the gold medal winner in the High Performance Economic Development category for economic development organizations. REDP attained this status by announcing the most jobs and capital investment created for any organization of its size, the 25,001-100,000 population category, in 2011-12. As part of Atlas Advertising’s High Performance Economic Development Benchmarking Survey, the REDP reported the creation of 2,694 jobs in the Richardson area over the past 12 months.

“We are pleased that Richardson’s outstanding track record in attracting skilled jobs and leading companies to the Telecom Corridor® area was recognized with this national honor,” said John Jacobs, senior vice president for economic development, Richardson Economic Development Partnership. “Richardson’s strategic location, heritage of business innovation, collaborative culture, talented workforce, outstanding educational offerings, transportation infrastructure and global business environment have helped to position the community well for continued leadership in attracting and retaining many of the world’s leading companies. We see a bright future for Richardson, building upon these historic strengths as well as our enterprising new initiatives.”

Richardson has long been recognized as a leader in business innovation, dating back to its high-tech business community’s roots in the 1950s and ‘60s and the City’s creation, 20 years ago, of the Telecom Corridor brand identity, which helped the community earn global recognition for its leadership in telecommunications and other high-tech sectors. Today, due to its culture of innovation, the wealth of technical expertise found in the area, the City’s prime location and its business-friendly climate, Richardson is a leader in the emerging cloud computing and data center industry, as well as in rapidly growing high-tech sectors such as wireless communications, semiconductors, software and gaming, IT services, life sciences and nanotechnology. Richardson is also a leader today in an array of non-tech industry sectors, ranging from financial services to healthcare.

The REDP has been at the forefront of this business success, becoming one of the first such outsourced, municipal economic development initiatives in Texas. Further demonstrating its proactive approach, the REDP last year helped with the creation of the Mayor’s Office of International Business, which is designed to attract even more direct, inbound investment to Richardson from international businesses, support Richardson-based businesses’ international commerce activities, and open new international markets and opportunities for Richardson businesses and innovators. Initiatives such as these, as well as Richardson’s long-standing reputation as a hub for global businesses’ major operations and headquarters, helped earn Richardson an official designation as the International Business Capital of North Texas from the Texas Legislature in 2011.

Among the leading businesses that either relocated to Richardson, renewed or expanded their commitment to Richardson in the past 12 months were State Farm, Traveler’s Insurance, Safety-Kleen, Inogen, United Healthcare, Genpact, Flexjet, Yahoo!, Methodist Richardson Medical Center and Availity.

The High Performance Economic Development Awards were presented by Atlas Advertising at the International Economic Development Council’s Annual Meeting to communities in six population categories, including: less than 25,000 in population, 25,001 to 100,000 in population, 100,001 to 250,000 in population, 250,001 to 1,000,000 in population, 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 in population, and over 2,500,000 in population.

“The economic development organizations we recognized are the best of the best in their size category,” said Ben Wright, CEO of Atlas Advertising. “As such, they are the models for our industry.”

The High Performance Economic Development winners were selected based on their self reported results over a one year period for website visits, inquiries received, jobs announced and capital investment announced in their communities. Atlas analysts then tabulated the numbers for all respondents to rank the highest performers. Atlas Advertising relies on the respondents for data accuracy and does not independently verify the results.

About the Richardson Economic Development Partnership
The Richardson Economic Development Partnership (REDP) is a joint effort of the City of Richardson and the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to building a vibrant and thriving local economy by attracting new investment and jobs through marketing, recruitment and working with existing employers. The REDP offers numerous services to companies considering expansion or relocation to the Telecom Corridor® area, including broker and real estate referrals, cost of business analyses, incentives, partner and executive introductions, relocation assistance, site selection, tours and city information. For more information, visit www.telecomcorridor.com.

About the High Performance Economic Development Awards
The High Performance Economic Development Awards recognize top performing economic development organizations for the impact they have on their communities, as measured by jobs and capital investment announced. Participating communities are ranked by their self-reported responses to Atlas’ Benchmarking survey. Each participating community receives their results benchmarked against communities of similar size. Entries are accepted year round, and results are tabulated in September of every year. To enter your community, please visit: http://Atlas2012BenchmarkingSurvey.questionpro.com

About Atlas Advertising
Atlas Advertising is a niche economic development marketing agency that serves more than 80 different economic development clients in 43+ states and 6 countries. Founded in 2001, Atlas Advertising helps economic developers reach national and international prospect and site selection audiences. Atlas Advertising delivers branding, website development, mapping, research, and creative services professionally, by a staff experienced in economic development. Unlike firms with little or no economic development experience, Atlas Advertising uses a proven mix of economic development marketing tactics that generate interest from site selection audiences. Atlas Advertising’s economic development campaigns have been named among the best in the country by IEDC and Angelou Economics, and have won awards regionally from business-to-business marketing organizations.